"Young sir, we have reached the capital city." Ast said as he opened the carriage's door.
Unlike his previous voice which contained traces of life, his current voice is tinged with exhaustion and tiredness. His exhaustion is understandable, after all, the detour that I told him to take did mess with our schedule, forcing him to forgo his sleeps to reach here.
As the door of the carriage opened, the sleep depraved face of Ast was made visible in front of me. His usual droopy eyes were entirely blood shot forming a glare on his pale face.
If I had not known that he was sleep depraved, I would have thought that he was egging for a beating from me and to top it off, the bags under his eyes along with his messy appearance made him look like a classical zombie from a fantasy novel.
"You need not waste your praise on me, young sir, after all this is my job." He said in a humble yet tired tone.
"..."
But it doesn't change the fact that he did a good job, no, an excellent job and to top it off he didn't utter a single complaint during the entire trip. Maybe I should make him my exclusive coachman? Maybe not, after all he was the little head's personal attendant.
I turned my head towards the familiar giant grey coloured, circular wall surrounding the capital city: Opheus, with the sentries on it. The wall surrounding the capital city was made centuries ago as a precaution against the sects and nobles in the kingdom, in case they revolted.
The wall with it's 592 ft. height and 98 ft. width was made with the intent of preventing aura practitioners from climbing or destroying it. It has four gates each at the four cardinal directions of the wall with guards guarding it. Currently we are at the west gate of the wall.
Unlike the last time I came here, there are no crowd seeking for entry. In fact the two guards guarding the gate are so free that I can see them talking and laughing. It's understandable as no one with a little sense in their head would want to enter the city now when the king has decreed that people are prohibited from leaving the city.
In fact the citizens of the capital city must be looking for ways to escape from the city.
"Young sir?" Ast asked in concern as he saw me staring at the wall.
"I would be busy for a while, so you can go and take a few days of rest." I said as I looked at him.
One look at him and I can say that he will fall asleep if he relaxes for a minute. Besides I'm going to see the king, so bringing someone with me is not a wise choice. Speaking of-
"Here take this." I said as I tossed two gold coins to him.
"?"
"I want you to take care of my disciple and Noir for a little while until I come back." I said I saw his face in confusion.
"But young sir, I can't protec-"
" You don't need to protect them. Noir is strong enough to protect himself and as for Flor, I will leave that job to Noir."
"The-n I-"
"Woof, woof"
Ast got cut of from whatever he was saying with Noir's barking.
"What, you don't want to do it?"
For some reason Noir doesn't like staying with Flor. No, not just Flor, he doesn't like to stay with Ast either. It's like he became a social introvert. He wasn't like this when he was smaller, he used to follow around everyone. In fact he used to jump in to others arm to get free rides.
Haa.. this is troublesome. Since I was supposed to meet the king in secret, I can't bring these two with me to the palace. Maybe I can throw in some bait.
"Listen here Noir. If you do this for me. I will get your favorite meat for you. What do you say?"
"Woof, woof?" He twisted his head waiting for my replay.
"Yes, yes. you can have as much as you want."
Exploiting the situation, are you? Back when he was a little pup, he was so adorable and obedient. Well time does fly, nothing remains the same. He did live his life alone for the last seventy years while I was in my sleep.
"Haa... And Flor, stick close to Noir if something happens, understood?" I said as I looked at Flor.
"~Umm~" Flor responded with a nod and crouched down to pick up Noir.
"And Flor."
"Y-yes master?~"
When Flor heard me calling her, she stopped her hands which were about to lift Noir up and looked up at me.
"It would be for your best if you stop what you were going to do." I said I glanced at Noir.
He was still playing dumb with his innocent puppy eyes, but I can sense something else in it other than purity.
"Noir keep this up, and I will have second thoughts about the little promise. " I said as I smiled at him meaningfully.
Spiritual beasts are supposed to grow bigger and weigh more with their age. But unlike other spiritual beasts who tend to show of their huge body, Noir is a special case, I don't know how, but he has shrunk his body to the size of a puppy.
"Young sir?" Ast asked in concern as he saw me staring at the wall.
"I would be busy for a while, so you can go and take a few days of rest." I said as I looked at him.
One look at him and I can say that he will fall asleep if he relaxes for a minute. Besides I'm going to see the king, so bringing someone with me is not a wise choice. Speaking of-
"Here take this." I said as I tossed two gold coins to him.
"?"
"I want you to take care of my disciple and Noir for a little while until I come back." I said I saw his face in confusion.
"But young sir, I can't protec-"
" You don't need to protect them. Noir is strong enough to protect himself and as for Flor, I will leave that job to Noir."
"The-n I-"
"Woof, woof"
Ast got cut of from whatever he was saying with Noir's barking.
"What, you don't want to do it?"
For some reason Noir doesn't like staying with Flor. No, not just Flor, he doesn't like to stay with Ast either. It's like he became a social introvert. He wasn't like this when he was smaller, he used to follow around everyone. In fact he used to jump in to others arm to get free rides.
Haa.. this is troublesome. Since I was supposed to meet the king in secret, I can't bring these two with me to the palace. Maybe I can throw in some bait.
"Listen here Noir. If you do this for me. I will get your favorite meat for you. What do you say?"
"Woof, woof?" He twisted his head waiting for my replay.
"Yes, yes. you can have as much as you want."
Exploiting the situation, are you? Back when he was a little pup, he was so adorable and obedient. Well time does fly, nothing remains the same. He did live his life alone for the last seventy years while I was in my sleep.
"Haa... And Flor, stick close to Noir if something happens, understood?" I said as I looked at Flor.
"~Umm~" Flor responded with a nod and crouched down to pick up Noir.
"And Flor."
"Y-yes master?~"
When Flor heard me calling her, she stopped her hands which were about to lift Noir up and looked up at me.
"It would be for your best if you stop what you were going to do." I said I glanced at Noir.
He was still playing dumb with his innocent puppy eyes, but I can sense something else in it other than purity.
"Noir keep this up, and I will have second thoughts about the little promise. " I said as I smiled at him meaningfully.
Spiritual beasts are supposed to grow bigger and weigh more with their age. But unlike other spiritual beasts who tend to show of their huge body, Noir is a special case, I don't know how, but he has shrunk his body to the size of a puppy.
But that reduction only applied to his height, his weight is still the same of his old body, and that would be the weight of three spirit adults. And if someone like Flor who doesn't even weigh a quarter of that tries to lift Noir up, I can already foresee the consequences.
Even after knowing his little prank has been exposed in front of me, he kept on his innocent face on. well whatever....
"I want you to take this seriously, Noir. you can't mess this up." I said with a serious voice.
I don't want something like a kidnapping at a critical time like this. With someone like Noir around, I don't need to worry about Flor's safety.
"Woof" Noir barked with a serious face as he threw away his innocent puppy façade away.
"Good, then Ast take care of them."
"Okay, young sir." Ast said as he bowed before taking Flor with a little puppy trudging behind him to the check post.
I watched them until they passed through the gate before turning my head towards a unusually unnoticed figure blending in the shadow of the carriage.
"Come out."
As soon as the figure heard my command, it shook for a moment before coming out of the shadow. The stranger was entirely covered in black from his head to toe with the exception for his green eyes.
Even after knowing his little prank has been exposed in front of me, he kept on his innocent face on. well whatever....
"I want you to take this seriously, Noir. you can't mess this up." I said with a serious voice.
I don't want something like a kidnapping at a critical time like this. With someone like Noir around, I don't need to worry about Flor's safety.
"Woof" Noir barked with a serious face as he threw away his innocent puppy façade away.
"Good, then Ast take care of them."
"Okay, young sir." Ast said as he bowed before taking Flor with a little puppy trudging behind him to the check post.
I watched them until they passed through the gate before turning my head towards a unusually unnoticed figure blending in the shadow of the carriage.
"Come out."
As soon as the figure heard my command, it shook for a moment before coming out of the shadow. The stranger was entirely covered in black from his head to toe with the exception for his green eyes.
A shadow guard, huh? I haven't seen one for a long time. The 'shadow guards'; an elite guard unit under the Opheus royalty, who takes order directly from the king. The members of this unit are handpicked from the commoners when they were still children and trained to be completely emotionless and cold blooded. They can be considered as the king's lap dogs in the shadow.
"Token?" The shadow guard asked in a flat tone.
I took out a black coloured, circular crystal from my sleeve and tossed it to the shadow guard.
"Token?" The shadow guard asked in a flat tone.
I took out a black coloured, circular crystal from my sleeve and tossed it to the shadow guard.
He caught the token with ease and started to analyze it. After looking over it for a while, he injected his aura in to it. Up on contacting the aura of the shadow guard, the token started to glow in gray colour of varying intensities, gradually revealing the shape of a coiled black serpentine dragon on it; the symbol of Alister family.
It may look similar to an average 27 mm diameter coin but it's value outstrips even that of spirit metals. The black token is a token that the royalty bestows up on people when they are granted nobility, it acts as the proof of nobility.
The method for refining the token is only known to the king and is handed down to the next generation on the day of their ascension. Since it's production is only known to the king, it acts as a unique identity tokens among the nobles of the kingdom.
He nodded his head in acknowledgement and presented the token back to me.
"Follow me." The shadow guard said in a monotonous tone as he started to lead me. He started to move away from the west gate but stuck close to the walls as he moved.
Personally I never liked the shadow guards. They may be perfect as soldiers but as a living being they are imperfect on many level. For them the king's orders are absolute. If the order is to massacre an entire village, they will do it without batting their eyelid and if the order is to attack me, they will charge at me like a boar which has lost it reasons without even an ounce of fear. pretty stupid, if I may say so.
"Your name?" I asked without expecting any answer.
"..."
And like always, no reply... they are akin to robots in human skin with limited speech patterns.
We kept moving further and further away from the gate, until it was impossible to see the gate.
After a while, the Shadow guard stopped walking and faced a particular stone of the wall. It looked similar to it's adjacent stones, right down to the moss grown on them.
As I looked around, I noticed something interesting, for some reason there are no sentries placed on this part of the wall, it was like a glaring hole in the wall's defense.
The Shadow guard took out a golden key from his sleeve and inserted it into a tiny hole well hidden in the moss. Moments after, the stone slowly started to move inwards until a large entrance was shown on the ground where the stone stood a while ago. Without much delay the little shadow guard started walking in to the entrance shrouded in darkness.
The Shadow guard took out a golden key from his sleeve and inserted it into a tiny hole well hidden in the moss. Moments after, the stone slowly started to move inwards until a large entrance was shown on the ground where the stone stood a while ago. Without much delay the little shadow guard started walking in to the entrance shrouded in darkness.
Personally I used to hate dark crammed places with shady origin, as if it collapses by chance, not even a heaven realm practitioner can survive if he is buried deep enough.
But that was a story of when I was a heaven realm practitioner but now as I have reached Lord realm, getting buried a few meter in the soil is not much of a problem and as such I followed him in to the entrance.
As I entered in to the dark entrance, the stone moved on it's own to it's original position sealing the entrance.
A secret passage huh... The royal family is still as secretive as ever. But is it safe to build one on the wall? If an enemy finds the entrance by chance, then the entire security of the wall will be compromised.
As I entered in to the dark entrance, the stone moved on it's own to it's original position sealing the entrance.
A secret passage huh... The royal family is still as secretive as ever. But is it safe to build one on the wall? If an enemy finds the entrance by chance, then the entire security of the wall will be compromised.
I moved my vision to a particular position in the darkness where the shadow guard was present. But I didn't ask anything about it as I can see from the construction and smell that this hidden entrance is far older than me, and if it is not found by anyone up until now, then there might be a good reason for it to be not found.
The shadow guard started moving in the darkness after making sure I walked in. Since there were no torches placed in this closed tunnel nothing was visible, well in a normal perspective, but with my enhanced eyes I can see vague forms of what is what.
The shadow guard started moving in the darkness after making sure I walked in. Since there were no torches placed in this closed tunnel nothing was visible, well in a normal perspective, but with my enhanced eyes I can see vague forms of what is what.
As I followed the shadow guard in the darkness, I sensed many life signals similar to the shadow guard concealed at various locations of the tunnel. They must be the guards of this tunnel.
We started walking for a while until the shadow guard stopped and faced the wall of the tunnel on the right side. Similar to before the shadow guard took out a key and inserted it into a hole on the wall. As expected the exit is present somewhere in the tunnel rather at the end of the tunnel. As the stone in front of us moved to the side revealing the entrance, dim light started rushing in.
We started walking for a while until the shadow guard stopped and faced the wall of the tunnel on the right side. Similar to before the shadow guard took out a key and inserted it into a hole on the wall. As expected the exit is present somewhere in the tunnel rather at the end of the tunnel. As the stone in front of us moved to the side revealing the entrance, dim light started rushing in.
What laid in front of me is an empty room with a round table and two empty tables in the centre.
"Wait here" The shadow guard who was silent up until now said to me without even turning around and moved towards the side where he melded into the shadow.
Since there is nothing interesting in the room, I went and sat on one of the empty chairs and closed my eyes but remained vigilant of the dim surrounding.
"Ahem"
I don't know how long it has been but after hearing the sound of someone clearing their throat, I opened my eyes slowly and looked at the guests in front of me.
Two people are present in front me, one, an old man in his eighties, seated in the chair opposite to me and another, a young man in his twenties standing behind the old man in a respectful manner.
The old man has a relaxed expression in contrast to the dark circles over his eyes.
The elderly man seated before me is the current king of Opheus: Coltos Opheus. As someone of the same generation as little Set, I have only interacted with him when he was still a child thus, his current appearance still caught me a little off guard even though I expected as much.
"I thought you wouldn't be alive by now." I spoke as I looked at the frail looking old man.
"..."
"..."
"The irony.." The King chuckled in self deprivation as he broke the silence.
"Of what?" I asked I looked at him.
"Of our current situation."
"..."
"You do remember the day when we met each other for the first time right , Lord Marquis?"
"Not particularly."
"Back then, you were an old man who looked like he was on his last leg whereas I was a little kid full of vitality. At that time I even thought that you would be knocked out by a gust of wind hahaha." The King said as he laughed bitterly.
'.....'
"But now after close to a centaury, here we are with the situation reversed, me as an old man and you as a young boy. Time sure is cruel." the King said with a voice induced with melancholy.
Well, time waits for no one. In the flow of time, people die and many things changes, leaving you with nothing but some blurry memories and melancholy.
I have seen how my nephews grew from up little brats to old man and eventually die in front of their own grandsons. That experiences left a bitter taste in my mouth that I eventually created a distance between me and the Alister Family to not to taste it again.
"Your grandson?" I asked as I moved my vision to the young man standing behind the King in order to change the depressing mood.
"Ahh yes he indeed is my grandson... I brought him with me as he is to be the next King." He said as he snapped out of his depression and titled his head towards his grandson.
"What about your children, are they okay with you naming him as the your successor?"
Normally the crown prince is chosen from the king's children, if by chance it is chosen from the king's grandchildren, there will be a bloody war between the royals.
"Them? They died in the war that happened three years ago so they can't complain about it now, can they?" The King said with a sad expression.
"My condolences."
"It's okay, at least I have my grandchildren."
But I only said it as a formality and meant nothing much apart from being considerate . In my long life I have seen many deaths: of my siblings, parents, nephews, friends, enemies and even of random people. And by the time I have realized it, I have become mostly numb to people dying unless they are closely related to me.
"Still it's good to see you alive and well, Coltos. I initially thought you would have kicked the bucket as you weren't that keen on cultivating aura."
"People change, so did I as situations forced me to."
"I see."
"And It's good to see you too, Lord Alister. You don't mind me calling you that, do you?" He inquired with a respectful tone removing all the previous familiarity.
But unlike little Coltos, his grandson has a displeased expression on his face. He might not have liked me speaking casually to his grandfather, The King.
"I don't mind you calling me that. But you must have heard from the current head of the Alister household, right? I don't want my identity to be made public."
"Then what should we address you as?"
Lord of Samara? No, let's not tell them that name. Let's go with the default one, since heaven realm aura practitioners are called Masters, then..
"You call me 'Grandmaster'." I said as I simply added grand to the word 'Master'. Although it is a simple word it has some unknown dignity to it.
"Then grandmaster-"
"huh-!?"
Just as the King was about to complete his sentence, I noticed something sticking into my head through the eyeball.
Wha- how?!
With the realization of getting stabbed, came the horror that I never wanted to acknowledge, Death. To think that after all that rambling, I was the first to kick the bucket.
'This might be the greatest joke of my life. All those years of hard work gone to waste, alas...'
Those were my last thoughts as my vision went black.
.
Comments
Post a Comment